“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” ~ Groucho Marx
Marieamifin/flickr
Blame it on Lisa Schroeder. While working on her pub day post this week, I was accosted by banana heads.
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this is just too cool . . . Dalton Ghetti alphabet carvings
#25 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.
source: inhabitat
the alphabet carved from pencil leads!
This just might be the most amazing alphabet set I’ve ever seen! I have to thank Tanita Davis for the heads up on Dalton Ghetti, a 49-year-old carpenter from Bridgeport, Connecticut, who obviously has the patience and acute artistic acumen of a saint.
Apparently he does these amazing carvings as a hobby; sets like the one above can take him years to complete, and the only tools he uses are a sewing needle, sculpting knife and razor blade. No magnifying glass!
source: inhabitat
Currently he is working on a project related to the September 11 attacks. Ever since 2002, he’s been carving a teardrop every day, and plans to do 3,000 of them, in honor of every person who died. Ultimately, they will collectively form one large teardrop. He estimates it will take him 10 years to complete.
To see and learn more about his incredible work, click here and here.
Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade especially for you with love and a new appreciation for #2 pencils.
Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
friday feast: your order, please?
kocojim/flickr
I’ve loved the idea of drive-in restaurants with car hops ever since childhood.
The ones we had in Hawai’i weren’t very close to home, so the few times I actually got to sit in a car and watch the car hop attach the silver tray with our burgers and fries to the driver’s side window were wildly exciting.
These days, shouting your order at a little speaker box and then driving to a window to collect your food just isn’t the same. Where are the cool roller skates? The feeling of being in a 50’s time warp? The high suspense of watching the car hop balance the food on the tray?
KC Waffle Dogs by charlieboy808.
I think my quintessential car hop experience was at KC Drive-In, the very first car hop restaurant in Hawai’i, whose specialty was waffle dogs. Hot dogs were encased in a sweet batter and cooked in a press. Ah, that crispy dough around the edges, and the steamy hot dog in the middle! Mmmmmmmm. Sadly, KC closed back in 2005.
I shall have to drown my sorrows in this tasty poem by Barbara Crooker, a poet I’ve just recently “discovered” and whom I absolutely love. A wonderful evocation of vintage cars, neon signs, endless summers and adolescence.
PATTY’S CHARCOAL DRIVE-IN
by Barbara Crooker
First job. In tight black shorts
and a white bowling shirt, red lipstick
and bouncing pony tail, I present
each overflowing tray as if it were a banquet.
I’m sixteen and college-bound,
this job’s temporary as the summer sun,
but right now, it’s the boundaries of my life.
After the first few nights of mixed orders
and missing cars, the work goes easily.
I take out the silver trays and hook them to the windows,
inhale the mingled smells of seared meat patties,
salty ketchup, rich sweet malteds.
The lure of grease drifts through the thick night air.
And it’s always summer at Patty’s Charcoal Drive-in—
carloads of blonde-and-tan girls
pull up next to red convertibles,
boys in black tee shirts and slick hair.
Everyone knows what they want.
(Rest is here.)
Mike6CA/flickr
Okay, I’ve got my roller skates on and I’m coming out to you. What’ll it be?
hellochris/flickr
Today’s Roundup is being hosted by Kate at Book Aunt.
Have fun cruisin’ this weekend!
*This post served up with a side of nostalgia.
Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
dogs dogs dogs
Holy Dog Breath!
The alphabet soup kitchen has been hijacked by dogs!
They’re everywhere, everywhere! Lapping up tequila and expensive mineral water, leaping through hoops, barking, whimpering, panting, jumping on the furniture, and licking all my stamps! Some want me to read Shiloh to them over and over again, while others are demanding doggie massages. And I’m running out of biscuits and chew bones!
All because Thursday is National Dog Day, and some of these clever critters got whiff of my plan to post pics of them with their children’s author companions. Ever since I put out the call, there’s been a steady stream of these tail wagging, tale telling, marvelous mutts ringing my doorbell.
friday feast: life and death by chocolate
“I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process. It may not be true, but why take the chance?” ~ Anonymous
Before I read today’s poem, I had never associated Chekhov with chocolate.
Cherries, maybe, even oysters or seagulls. But not chocolate.
Still, this narrative poem by Louis Simpson, based on a real-life incident, has increased my admiration for Chekhov considerably, assuring me that if I had been one of his guests, honored to be in his presence yet intimidated by his genius, I would have happily shared my own chocolate legacy. But more on that in a bit.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 
